Donskoi: Russia plans to reach a final pact with Norway in April on shelf exploration

In April 2017, Russia plans to sign a final agreement with Norway on exploration in the disputed area of the Arctic shelf, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi said, RIA Novosti reported.

"In April, we plan to sign a final agreement on information exchange and exploration in the disputed area," Donskoi said.

The draft agreement was discussed during Russian-Norwegian consultations in October.

In 2010, Russia and Norway signed an agreement to delimitate the grey zone in the Barents Sea, which entered into force in July 2011. The pact gave Russia and Norway the opportunity to freely explore a part of the Arctic shelf. In 2013, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) reported that resources in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea, controlled by Norway under the agreement, will account for a 15-percent growth of all estimated reserves on the Norwegian shelf.

In August 2015, Russia submitted to the UN a revised application on extending the continental shelf boundaries in the Arctic to include the Lomonosov Ridge and other formations of a continental nature. Projected reserves of hydrocarbons in these areas amount to 4.9 billion tons of reference fuel.